Mountain Lakes Park

When I think of Westchester the first thing that comes to mind is rich people.  The second thing that comes to mind are hills.  Westchester is a hilly place, no doubt.  It's a bit surprising such a large population is concentrated in such a small area and it still has a rural feel when one is not on the major highways.  One would think Westchester's high point to be over 1,000 feet, but at 982 it's just shy.

Bailey Benchmark is located inside this park, located in Northern Westchester near the border with CT.  A few years ago I made it to the high point, but there was a short bushwack to the summit from a trail.  This park is relatively new.  It used to be a camp, but now it appears to be both a camp and park.  There's is also now a trail going to the summit.

The park lacks wilderness.  It's more of a park to bring the dog for a short little stroll.  Most of the trails are old woods roads, but I did walk on about half a mile of single track trail.  The park, true to it's name has five lakes.  The park, not so true to it's name, does not have a mountain.  Though it does have a pretty good overlook that may for a split second make you feel as if your in the mountains.  Overall, a great little park and I'm glad I stopped.    

Black Head Mountain

Black Head

Here's another for my quest to do the Catskill 3500 Club peaks in a year.  Black Head is one of the most visible of the 3500 foot peaks.  Kaaterskill High Peak may be the only other that's more widely visible.  Black Head looms large above the towns of Catskill and Cairo.  The Black Head Range may be the most visible range in the Catskills.  The tri peaks (Black Head, Black Dome and Thomas Cole) are clearly visible from the north including Albany.

Today I'd approach Black Head from the south.  This would be a first.  I have always ascended Black Head from the north at the end of Big Hollow Road.  While looking at the maps to plan a trip, I noticed a trailhead in Rountop, near Cairo.  This is less than 15 miles from home, easily the closest trailhead.  Not sure how I ever overlooked this fact.

I also decided to make this a scouting trip for the Escarpment Trail Run.  From Dutcher Notch I would ascend Stoppel Point first, before heading over to Black Head.  Stoppel is the last major climb of the run, so I figure it's good to get to know it better.  Today I would walk, but I plan to use this route for training later on.

The Climb up to Stoppel from Dutcher Notch

The trailhead for Dutcher Notch is located about 4 miles south of Cairo.  For its close proximity to a town, Dutcher Notch does to appear to get much traffic.  The parking lot is suited for 4 to 5 cars.  The trail starts off by walking through someone's front yard.  I felt creepy walking past.  Fortunately, there were people outside taking advantage of the day, so I said hello and confirmed that this was the trail.

The trail to Dutcher Notch

The trail up to Dutcher Notch is 2 miles of uphill.  Though it never gets incredibly steep, it is relentless.  If it were hotter, there at least were frequent spots to dip your hands and face in cold water.  Just below the notch there is an excellent water source.  I took advantage of this.  After about an hour of climbing, I reached Dutcher Notch.

Now the walk up to Stoppel looms.  There are three climbs up to Stoppel that total about 1,000 feet.  With fresh legs its not so bad.  In the heat and humidity with some mileage, it's a painful ascent.  I met a couple of backpackers along the way.  I envy them.  It's a reminder of where I was exactly ten years ago, hiking along the A.T. sleeping outside every day.  I love the smell of the evergreens.

The climb up to Stoppel provided the hiker with some rewarding views.  There's Milt's lookout (I'm not sure who Milt is) with commanding views of the Hudson Valley.  The Hudson River, the towns of Catskill and Hudson are all in view.  The Rip Van Winkle and Olana can be made out if one looks closely enough.  Near the summit there is an old plane wreck that claimed a life Memorial Day weekend in 1983.  Also near the summit is a great view north of Black Head.

Stoppel Point from Milt's Lookout

Hudson River

Cairo Roundtop

Flowers line the trail

Spring

One of many plane wrecks in the Catskills

Black Head Range

On the descent back down to Dutcher Notch, I noticed how steep the trail is to Stoppel.  Sometimes the descents are more strenuous than the ascents.  From Dutcher Notch I made my way up the long ascent to the summit of Black Head.  It's almost 3 miles to the summit from the notch.  Just like Stoppel, Black Head rewards the hiker with some amazing views.  Early on, there are great views to the south of Kaaterskill High Peak and the Devil's Path.

A fun spot to poke through

It does get steep

A great view from the "Arizona"

Kaaterskill High Peak

Hunter & Lake Capra

Here are the same views a couple hours later:

High Peak

KHP & the Devil's Path

Hunter

KHP, Devil's Path & Hunter

After some more climbing, there are some nice flat areas that a few backpackers were taking advantage of.  From these areas, the summit of Black Head peaks out.  It looks so far.  But at least there are some nice views to the east along the way.  After some more climbing, the summit is achieved.  Many mountains in the Catskills, the summit is not obvious.  Black Head is an exception. There is a huge summit rock and the Escarpment Trail intersects with the Black Dome Trail here.

Black Head

Nice, flat, grassy area

Different flowers found along the way

Taking up root right in the middle of the trail.  The audacity!

Steep and Rocky

More flowers

Before heading back to the car, I made my way down the Black Dome trail to the view point just below Black Head's summit.  I was sure glad I did.  The best view of the day.  The sun was beginning to set, so the light was just right.  The Devil's Path, Hunter, Westkill and Rusk were all in view.  Amazingly, there was still some snow on Hunter's slopes.  The walk out was incident free and I made it back to the car before dark.    

Summit Rock

Rusk Mt

Devil's Path

Hunter, Westkill and Rusk

Hunter

  



  

Spring in Rhinebeck

I made my way to Ferncliff Forest after a good little shower.  Expecting not much in views, I just enjoyed the walk on a mostly soft surface.  The trees and shrubs are truly green right now.  It's amazing how quickly the forest has sprung to life.  Lots of newts were out.  I hope I didn't step on any.

High Falls, Columbia County's Highest Waterfall

At 150 feet, High Falls happens to be Columbia County's highest waterfall.  I'm not sure how I never heard of this place until recently.  I have my friend Pat to thank for that.

This is a gem of a spot.  Located about 8 miles east of the city of Hudson in Philmont, I wish I knew about this place last summer when I worked in Hudson for most of June and July.  This is an ideal spot on a hot summer day (though swimming is not allowed).  Today was neither hot or humid, but an ideal day to be here.  The sun was not out, making it ideal to take some decent photos.

There are about 2 miles of trails and I covered nearly all of them.  There is a helpful sign at the parking lot with a map of the trails.  I took the Green trail first to the view point.  The view was about 100 feet above the bottom of the waterfall.  Nice spot, but as any waterfall enthusiast knows, the place to be is the bottom of the falls.

I walked down to the blue trail, which follows along the Agawamuck Creek.  There was a beautiful roaring brook that flowed into the Creek.  The trail ended just before the base of the waterfall.  I skipped over a few rocks to get to the base of the falls.  It's a shame, swimming is not allowed.  There is a wonderful swimming pool at the bottom.

The Falls drop an impressive 150 feet.  It's mostly cascade, but there are a couple good drops in there.  It's also a very steep cascade, making it quite picturesque.  The falls are quite impressive.  A splendid place to be for sure!!!